I. Introduction
Are you a data scientist aspirant? Are you currently applying for data scientist positions? Do you have a data scientist interview coming up? Are you worried about the interview process? If you are currently applying for data scientist jobs, then you should start getting yourself ready for a very long and arduous interview process. After going through a couple of data scientist interview processes, I would like to share my experiences with aspiring data scientists. This article will highlight what to expect in a typical data scientist interview process. In Section II, we describe the interview process. In Section III, we discuss recommendations for improving the interview process. A short summary concludes the article.
II. The Interview Process
Step 1: Initial Contact via LinkedIn from a Recruiter
All the two data scientists interviews that I’ve participated in started with a recruiter contacting me via LinkedIn. The initial message looks like this:
“Hey, Benjamin! I came across your profile on LinkedIn and wanted to reach out to see if you would be open to new opportunities? One of our clients in the Tulsa, OK area that is currently a leader in the web-based monitoring and field automation services for oil and gas is looking for a Data Scientist to join their team! I thought it lined up well with your experience and wanted to make sure I ran it by you! Would there be a good time I could give you a call today to talk more about this role? Thanks and hope to speak with you soon!”
Step 2: Skype Interview with Recruiter
At the Skype interview, the Recruiter asked about my background and what kind of data science projects I’ve worked on in the past. Basically simply trying to figure out if my background and interests line up with the data scientist role being advertised. We also discussed at length about the following:
(i) The data scientist position
(ii) The job location
(iii) Required qualifications
(iv) Job expectations
(v) Work environment
(vi) Approximate pay and benefits
(vii) If I’ll be needing sponsorship for employment
Step 3: Automated Video Interview
It’s now two weeks into the interview process. This time around I was contacted by the director of data science at the company. He asked me to complete an automated video interview. His message read like this:
“Dear Benjamin,Thank you for your interest in a career at eLynx Technologies LLC. We have reviewed your application for Data Scientist — Analytics and we would like to invite you to complete a video interview. You can take the interview at any time with the use of a computer with a webcam. The entire interview will take approximately 10:00 minutes and must be submitted by April 02, 2019.”
Lessons Learned: Here are some tips for automated video interviews:
(i) It’s important you have a broad knowledge about the company and the role you are being considered for. So do your research about the company as you may have to tell them what you know about the company in a nutshell. A good source of information would be the company’s website.
(ii) Be mindful of your background/surroundings (what is in view of the camera) during the interview. Make sure you are in a quiet place that is free from distractions.
(iii) Dress to impress: Always recommended to dress professionally all throughout.
(iv) Keep eye contact with the camera like it’s the eyes of the person you’re interviewing with.
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